Vegan salad made with roasted sweet potatoes, baked spicy chickpeas, quinoa, pomegranate seeds, walnuts and veggies by tossing them in a simple dressing made of mustard and dates!

Until my 20s, a salad in my life was just a plateful of sliced tomatoes or cucumbers. A boring but supremely healthy plate of food that neither tempted the vision nor the appetite. And then, I found this salad bar in a mall food court that totally made me love salads. While salad bars are extremely common in the west, there aren't many out here in the tropical sub continent. May be it is the weather or may be it just that there is no demand. I loved the idea that I could pile up my bowl with anything and everything and make my own salad. Unfortunately, the place shut down after a while. But ever since, I love DIY salads.

While I eat salads, I rarely post their recipes. When I make salads at home, they are usually very simple - veggies tossed in a simple vinaigrette, so I don't share them with you. But this salad, I had to share!!

Where do I begin with this salad... it has so many delicious things all mixed together.

Roasted Sweet Potato - I found some gorgeous orange sweet potato (a rare find in Bangalore), so I bought some and roasted it in the oven with olive oil, salt, cumin and smoked paprika until they were soft and fabulous. Alternatively, roast some pumpkin.

Spicy baked Chickpeas - You have to add some crunch to the salad, and in this case, these chickpeas are the crunch element. I soaked chickpeas overnight and cooked them with salt until soft. Then I peeled them and roasted them with olive oil and salt. I tossed in some red chilli powder after removing from the oven. You can buy crispy chickpeas or you can just add boiled chickpeas.

Quinoa - This is what makes the salad filling and increases the protein content of the salad. If you cannot find quinoa, use millet or buckwheat.

Blanched Vegetables - I blanched some broccoli and beans and added them to the salad. I love broccoli and beans are just healthy. Add any of your favorite veggies, blanched or raw.

Pomegranate - I love pomegranate and I will add this to any salad I can. These sweet juicy pink seeds make any salad pop. They add a slight sweetness to the salad and complement the sweet potato really well.

Walnuts - You can never have enough crunch in a salad. Add in any nuts you love, I personally love walnuts. Plus, they are good for your brain.

Lettuce - Salad isn't salad until you have some green leaves. And while I list is last, it is most definitely the mandatory element of the salad. You can replace it with kale or baby spinach.

Since the salad itself had such gorgeous ingredients, I kept the dressing simple, yet interesting. Mustard, dates, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, garlic and salt. Just blend everything until you have a tart sweet and hot dressing.

This salad is substantial enough to be a meal in itself. In fact, it was our dinner and it kept us feeling full for a long time. However, it felt light also.

The salad has ingredients that need preparation - roasting, baking, blanching and boiling. You can prep all of these in advance. That is exactly what I did. I roasted the sweet potato and chickpeas the day before. The chickpeas tend to get a little soft and chewy, but you can pop them in the oven for a while before adding to the salad to crisp them up again. I boiled the quinoa the previous day too. If you plan to make the salad the very next day, then you can also blanch the veggies the night before.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas for 8-10 hours. Drain and boil in salted water until done.2. Drain and peel the chickpeas. Dry as much as possible.3. Toss with 1 tsp Olive oil and bake at 200 degree C for 25-30 minutes until crisp.4. Remove from oven and toss with red chilli powder. 5. Peel and dice the sweet potato.6. Toss in 2 tsp olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and cumin powder until all pieces are coated.7. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 200 degree C until done.8. Cook the quinoa as per instructions on the packet until done. I soaked the quinoa for 1 hour and pressure cooked with 1.5 cups of water.9. Boil water and add a pinch of salt. Blanch the broccoli florets and beans for 2-3 minutes. Remove from hot water and immediately put the broccoli and beans in cold water. 10. Soak the dates in warm water. Drain the water, deseed the dates and blend into a puree. Use little water while blending if required.11. Blend together mustard powder, vinegar, garlic powder, date puree, water and salt until mixed.12. Make the salad by tossing the lettuce leaves, roasted sweet potato, chickpeas, quinoa, blanched broccoli, chopped blanched beans, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and the dressing together.13. Serve at room temperature.

A few weeks before my birthday, Gee asked me to help her bake a cake. She's only ever baked two cakes in her whole life - Banana Bread and one plain Vanilla, but both a long time ago. And both of those in my house. This time, she wanted to bake one in her house to test out her oven. I was all confident telling her what to buy and how much to buy, until I landed up in her house and realized, that the last cake I baked, not muffins or cheesecakes, but a loaf cake was actually 2 years ago!!!

As a cook, it is never good to forget your skills, and here I was all lost and upset. So I decided I need to start baking more often. Lo and behold, this Date and Walnut Cake. I made it multiple times since I first did to just brush up my baking skills and dust out my recipes. And I can say with conviction, that I have loved it each time that I baked it. It has been a little difficult however, to stop sneaking in a piece - for me and for Raj. He'll even wipe out the crumbs (so will I !!). This cake is uber moist and slightly dense. It is rich and gooey to eat and when you find those little bits of walnuts and dates, it makes the bite, that much more special. I love the walnuts in the cake!!

If you like light airy cakes, then this may not fit the bill.

The lucky recipients of my trials have been our friends. Lots of free cake going around from this household.

Date and Walnut has always been a family favorite, only this time, I made it Vegan. It wasn't that I was looking for a vegan recipe, but this one just worked so perfect that I don't think I'll ever want to add dairy and change it. The cake uses Coconut Oil as the fat component, and I tell you, it tastes delicious. It imparts a slightly coconutty taste to the cake, that makes it so much more exotic in flavor. If you aren't such a coconut fan, use any neutral flavored oil like canola or sunflower. To enhance the coconut flavor (cause I'm a big coconut lover), I used coconut milk. Feel free to use almond or soy milk. If you have none, use water, however it may make the cake feel less rich in taste.

There are three sweeteners in here - Dates, Jaggery and Sugar.

Dates - Use the best quality you can. The flavor does come through and you want it to be good. I usually buy dates with seed and deseed them while using. The dates are cooked along with jaggery and water until soft and then blended to a puree. This adds sweetness as well as flavor to the cake.

Jaggery - Jaggery is unrefined cane sugar. With refined sugar off the list for many of us these day, jaggery is the perfect replacement. You can use palm sugar or coconut sugar or brown sugar if you cannot find jaggery. If you do have access to jaggery, buy the darkest, that is the least refined and has the best flavor profile. Sometimes, it even tastes like chocolate.

Sugar - I used half a cup of jaggery, and later added refined sugar, because the cake wasn't sweet enough. To avoid using refined sugar, just increase the quantity of jaggery to 1 cup or use powdered sifted jaggery powder later if the sweetness is less. You could also replace all of the jaggery with powdered sugar.

I have used all purpose flour or maida in the cake. I generally opt for whole wheat, however, I did not want this cake to be any heavier than it already was with all the vegan liquid ingredients. I suggest, if you are looking to use whole wheat, keep it at 50% and the remaining 50%, use all purpose flour.

The best part of the cake is the walnuts. Be generous. However, let me warn you that the cake gets a little difficult to slice when those walnut bits come in the way and you may not get the perfect slice. But don't let that stop you from baking the cake. Your family won't mind the large chunky slices, I assure you.cThe cake is soft and moist, so only slice it once it has cooled completely. Slicing it when hot will lead to it breaking into chunks around the walnuts.

Serve it warm with tea/coffee.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

Method:

1. Boil together 20 chopped dates, water and the jaggery until the dates are soft or 5-6 minutes. If you want to make a refined sugar free cake, increase the quantity of jaggery to 1 cup.2. Allow the mixture to cool, and then blend to a smooth puree. Add water if required.3. Mix together the coconut oil and half the coconut milk until combined.4. Add in the date puree and mix well.5. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.6. Sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. You can add a pinch of salt if you want.7. Mix until combined. Use the remaining coconut milk to loosen the batter if it is very dry.8. If the cake batter isn't sweet enough, add the powdered sugar until you get the desired sweetness.9. Mix in chopped walnuts and the remaining dates.10. Grease a cake tin (9") and line with parchment paper or butter paper.11. Pour in the batter.12. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 200 degree C or until done. An inserted toothpick or knife should come out clean.13. Demould after 4-5 minutes.14. Allow to cool before slicing.